Food is a major expense for any family.  If you can reduce the amount you spend you will have a little extra left for luxury items like heating and clothing or better still maybe save for a holiday.

Decide in advance what you are going to eat for the week and make your list accordingly.  If it gets to dinner time and you don’t know what you are going to serve you are more likely to use pre-packaged foods, get a take-away or go out for a meal. 

Once you get to the supermarket follow these basic tips:

• Stick to your list – impulse buying is a guaranteed way to boost your bill. To that end, don’t shop when you are hungry you are more likely to buy “extras”. 
• Don’t buy too much fresh produce it might go off before you eat it. Studies show that the average family throws away 25% of what they buy.
• Buy freezable fresh produce when it is in season, the price will be a lot lower and it can be frozen for you to enjoy at a later date. 
• Don’t buy pre-prepared food.  Every time someone slices, dices or wraps the food you buy it costs you money.  Those snack packs are handy for school lunches but you pay dearly just to save a few minutes a day.
• Check to see if there is an “own-brand” version of your required item. Often people can’t tell the difference between the brand name products and the ones manufactured for the supermarket which are half the price.

Keep a good supply of freezer bags and plastic tubs in stock so that you can pack, label and freeze leftovers and save time on preparation another day.  Ensure that food is well wrapped before freezing as freezer burn will ruin an otherwise delicious meal. 

Don’t forget to rotate your freezer and cupboard stock, how many times have you had to throw away a packet of soup with an expiry date of October 2002.

Having taken on board all these tips all you have to do now is work out what you’re going to spend all that extra money on.